Double Threat My Bleep (4 page)

“Hi Megan. Hi Stephanie,” she says, nonchalantly. Steph traded numbers with another kid so she could be in our group.

Kill me now, again. Seriously. What the hell could I possibly have to say to Amy? How about
what up beeyotch
? No, that’s too nice. Let me think.
Hey, ho.
No, still not strong enough. How about,
Hey skank, this class shouldn’t be too hard for you since you’re so easy
. Uh…that will have to do until I can think of something better.

But I don’t say anything. It’s like I’m a frickin’ mime. I’m sure my face is moving, contorting in different directions, and my hands are moving, but nothing is coming out of my mouth.

“Uh huh,” Stephanie mumbles, sitting on a desk and pushing me down to sit in another.

For the first time in my life, I’m speechless.

Mrs. Castillo rattles off some instructions for us, but I don’t really pay attention. Steph and I just chat, while Amy talks to the other girl in our group. That chick better watch herself. She doesn’t want to be all buddy buddy with that scuz bucket. One minute they’ll be best friends and the next Amy will be screwing her boyfriend. But whatever, I don’t have to worry about such bull crap anymore. I’m so done with Amy. And nothing is going to change that.

So basically science, math, and English have been a blur. I hope Amy doesn’t have this effect on me for the rest of the school year. I really need to figure out a way to let it go or my grades are going to suck ass. And I will probably piss off my teachers because I won’t be able to concentrate on anything they’re saying.

Focus. That’s the word for today. Focus.

Awww. I can breathe. World History is all clear. No Amy. No Eric. It’s all good.

Keesh and I take a seat in the middle. The classroom is squeaky clean. Whoever this new teacher is, he’s very organized. Books are lined up precisely, papers are stacked and aligned perfectly across his desk. He has a little container full of sharpened pencils, pens, highlighters, and dry erase markers just off to the right on his desk. They’re all turned the same way. The only thing out of place is a giant stuffed bass fish hanging over the white board. Really? A giant fish? I hope it’s not real.

Oh my goodness.

This is our teacher.
He
is our teacher.
This
is Mr. Marino?

Any man who looks like that can hang whatever the hell he wants over the white board. He can hang me over the white board. Who cares? Just look at him.

Oh my gosh. He just caught me staring.

I look away quickly and turn towards Keesha. She is too busy organizing her notebooks to notice this fine piece of manhood that walked through the door. Should I say something? Or should I just let her notice on her own?

The bell rings. Too late for me to get her attention. I watch as Keesh looks up for the first time. Her eyes about pop out of her head. And she’s not the only one. Little by little, the females in my class practically swoon. Hell, even the guys look a little in awe.

Mr. Marino. Where do I begin? He’s speaking but I don’t hear a word he’s saying. His voice is like a sweet song ringing in my ears. It’s like I’m seeing my favorite celebrity and I can’t even think.

“This is honors World History,” Mr. Marino says, commanding attention. “I will expect a lot from you. We will move quickly. You will be expected to read your text at home, and come prepared for discussion. This is not going to be what you would normally expect of a social studies class. No memorization. No timelines. No worksheets. We will discuss, debate, and contemplate how various world leaders and events have made an impact on the society we live in today, and what it means for the future. Are you ready?”

Is that a rhetorical question or does he expect us to really answer it?

“Anyone care to answer?”

I guess he really wants us to say we’re ready. But I’m not. Actually, all that talk about contemplating the meaning of life is a bit intimidating. I’d much rather have worksheets.

“How about you?” He points to Travis. How did he get in here? I didn’t know he had honors classes. Heck, I would have pegged him for special ed. Sad, I know. He’s just so damn goofy.

“Honestly, I’m not ready. Summer was way too short. It’s the first day of school and it’s gonna take me a good month to get use to waking up early again. Plus, I can’t get this girl I like to dump her college boyfriend and go out with me. So no, unfortunately, I’m not quite ready.” No, he just didn’t say that. Is he insane? He looks back at me and winks. No, he didn’t just do that either. Omigod.

Mr. Marino looks over at me and grins. If I wasn’t already so embarrassed, I would melt like butter in my seat. “Hmm, thank you for being honest and so forthcoming.” He looks in my direction again. “But next time, a simple no would do.”

Travis continues, “Well you said you were interested in discussion, so I just thought I would begin the discussion with more than a
simple
answer.” Sounds like Travis took a little offense to our teacher’s comment. I’m surprised he’s talking back to a teacher. That doesn’t really happen. Well, not in our classes.

Mr. Marino raises a brow at this comment. He turns and walks in the opposite direction. “Anyone else care to comment?”

Keesha’s hand shoots up. Omigod. What the heck is she going to say?

“And your name is?” He smiles at her.

“Keesha, sir.”

“Keesha, nice to meet you. No need to call me sir. So, are you ready?”

“I am definitely ready.” Oh no, she didn’t.

“I’m sure she is,” Travis mumbles under his breath, but not so soft that we all can’t hear him. Including Mr. Marino.

“Whoa, what’s your name?” He turns toward him.

“Travis.”

“Well Travis, looks like it’s going to be an interesting year.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” He smiles at him.

Mr. Marino addresses the entire class again. “Some of you are ready, some of you are not. I must say, I’m as ready as I can be right now. While I am excited to begin a new year and get to know each of you, I am also like our dear friend, Travis, here. It’s going to take me a while to get used to waking up each morning. I’m a big fan of sleeping in during the summer on days when I’m not out fishing.” Aha. That explains that giant fish hanging over his head. “The good news is…you have this class sixth period. So by the time you get to me, I will have woken up and worked out all the kinks on the classes before you. The bad news is…you will be tired and ready to go home. I challenge you to save enough energy to stay focused in my class and participate. The more you all participate, the more fun this class will be. With that, let’s get started.”

Wow. I’m tired already. He’s right. By the time sixth period comes around, I’m going to be ready to check out every day. But something tells me Keesh and I will not be missing his class. We’re going to have to make our Slurpee runs during a different period. I sure as hell am not going to be missing a chance to stare at this man. He’s beautiful.

Chapter Five

Keesh
and I trot down the stairs in silence, still awestruck by the chiseled man who is our history teacher.

I punch Stephanie in the arm. “Omigod, why didn’t you tell us?”

She’s smiling from ear to ear. She knows exactly what I’m talking about. “I thought I’d let him be a surprise.”

“What a way to end the day,” Keesh adds.

“First period, sixth period, who cares? Did you see his eyes?” Steph responds.

“I saw his eyes, his arms, his tight ass,” Keesh answers. I just nod. I saw it all too, and I’m still speechless.

“How can someone that good looking be a high school teacher? And he’s young too. He looks like he could be a senior. It’s like he’s just teasing us…like look at me but ha ha you can’t have me.” It’s funny to hear Steph talk like this. She never gushes over boys. She’s usually just the innocent bystander while Keesh and I dish all the details.

“What did you think?” Keesh nudges me.

“Oh. Me? I’m still thinking about him. He does look young, huh?”

“And smokin’ hot,” she tells me.

“I knew you thought I was hot babe, but smokin’? Thanks.” Jonathan swings his arm over Keesh’s shoulder.

“Keep dreamin’, Jon Jon.” She grabs his face down to hers and plants her lips on his. I guess they’re
really
back together.

“Ahem.” I cough. “Hello, we’re here. Do you have to suck face in front of the school?”

“Yeah. Come on. Let’s go home,” Steph pleads.

Keesh pulls herself away from Jonathan with one last peck. “Sorry, you guys, make up kisses are the best.”

Josh walks up with Travis. “I thought it was makeup sex,” Travis says.

“Since when are you friends with all my friends?” I say to him.

“Since forever, why?” he asks.

“Because it’s like you’ve just starting showing up everywhere and now we can’t get rid of you.”

Travis glares at me for a split second before walking away.

“Damn, Meggie, that was messed up,” Josh says and walks off too. His walk turns to a slight jog until he catches up with Travis.

Keesh, Jonathan, and Steph are silently slaying me with their angry eyes.

“What’d I do?”

“Do you have to be so mean?” Steph says.

“C’mon, am I really being mean? He bugs. He’s not even part of our group and he tries to joke around like he’s one of us.”

“He does bug, but he likes you Meg and you could let him down easy. You don’t have to put him on blast like that,” Keesha scolds me.

“Me? Put him on blast? Give me a break. I’ve tried to be nice but he doesn’t get it. Did you hear him in class today? I don’t think he’s ever gonna get it. And now he’s getting all buddy buddy with Josh and Jonathan, trying to infiltrate our group. I’m never gonna get rid of him.”

“Infiltrate? Really, Meg? C’mon. We’re not some preppy group of stuck up people who don’t get along with everybody. I like making new friends. Yes, Travis is a wee bit annoying, but he’s funny too. He cracks jokes just like we do. If he wasn’t feelin’ you, he’d fit right in and you know it. You think he’s funny too, I know you do.” Stephanie takes her turn to scold me. She is right, though. When he’s not bugging, he is funny.

“Ugh,” I sigh. What do I do? “Okay, okay. It’s only the first damn day of school and already freaking drama. I will try to be nice. I’m sorry.”

“Uh, you don’t need to apologize to us,” Keesh replies. She tugs at Jonathan’s arm. “Let’s go home, you guys. We have 179 more days to go. No need to be here any longer than necessary.”

“Let’s stop at the student store. I could use some munchies for the walk home,” I suggest.

“Not a bad idea, then let’s go watch practice for a few.” Steph wants to check out Dominic’s football practice. I don’t blame her. I’d want to check out Alex’s if he was still here. Still no texts yet. My cell feels heavy in my pocket, waiting for it to buzz.

We head over to the student store where I buy a Diet Coke and a bag of Chex Mix. So yummy. As Steph and I walk out, we see that Travis and Josh have rejoined the group.

“You guys ready?” Keesh asks.

“Oh, that’s not a good question to ask in front of Travis,” I joke, smiling at him. A small grin spreads over his face as he puts his head down.

“Why not?” Steph questions.

“Come on and I’ll tell ya,” Keesh says, leading us all to the football field.

As we head up the ramp to the bleachers I fall behind the girls to walk with Travis.

“Travis,” I say softly, “Can we talk for a minute?” Keesh and Steph look back at me. They don’t say anything but I can tell they’re pleased.

“Yeah, sure.” He follows me back down. We turn at the bottom and head toward the other end of the bleachers. “So what’s up?”

“I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry for being so bitchy today. I wasn’t being very nice. I mean we have the whole rest of the year ahead of us and I don’t wanna start it off with so much drama.”

“Okay, but you don’t need to apologize. I acted like a jackass today. I came on a little strong. It’s just, you drive me crazy.” He puts his hands up to his head, and tousles his hair.

“What? I drive you crazy? Well, you drive me nuts,” I shout at him.

“I probably do.” He chuckles. “But I don’t think I drive you nuts in the same way you drive me crazy.”

I smile. “You’re probably right.”

We walk up the other ramp and head to the seats. “Look, I know you have a boyfriend, so I’ll try to stop driving you nuts. But I’ll be here, you know. I’ll be waiting.” Seriously, this guy
is
insane.

We walk up a few steps and sit in the third row. I kick my feet up on the back of the seat in front of me. “Waiting? You’re just going to sit around and wait for Alex and me to break up. Who says we are? We’re very happy so I don’t see that happening any time soon.”

He kicks his feet up to and leans back. “It’s only a matter of time, Meg.”

I sit up with a jolt of anger, frustrated by his comments. “Omigod, Travis. I just said I’m sorry and here you go telling me that my boyfriend and I are doomed. Why do you have to be like that? And why do you care? You barely know me.”

“Relax, Meg. I’m sorry if I’m upsetting you.” He puts his hand on my arm and squeezes. It’s like an electric shock and I pull myself away. “Let’s just get back to everyone and forget we had this conversation. I won’t say anything anymore and we can just be chill again.” He stands up. “C’mon, let’s go. It’ll be cool.” He sticks out his hand. I don’t take it but I do stand and hop over the seats below us to head back to our friends.

Cool. He wants to be cool. To be chill. Let’s just see how well that works.

I feel a tingling coming from my pocket. Omigod. Omigod.

I dig into my jeans and yank out my cell phone.

It’s Alex.

“Hi, my love.” I let out before the phone is all the way up to my ear.

“Hey, babe.” He sounds just as excited as I am. “How was your first day?”

“It’s still going. I’m still at school.” I stop walking and concentrate on the sound of his voice. Travis passes me and doesn’t look back.